How to Protect Your Wood Floors from Holiday Traffic

On Christmas Eve, your kiddos set out a plate of cookies and a tall glass of cool milk for Santa Claus. A note, reminding him to feed the reindeer with the carrots in the refrigerator, is primly attached and scrawled in untidy red and green crayon. After they have skirted up the stairs, whispering excitedly about the impossibility of sleep, you whip out a pen and quickly add to the note: “And please take your boots off at the chimney.”

The last thing you need this holiday season is unsightly scuff marks, scratches and additional damage to your beautiful hardwood floors. However, with the following tips, you can keep your real hardwood flooring looking magnificent throughout the weeks of rough weather, extra houseguests and real-life foliage in your front room – and avoid having to ask Saint Nick (or your local hardwood flooring contractor) for new wood flooring next year.

Under the Christmas Tree

In many households, traditional Christmas celebrations require a fresh-cut tree, and that’s no problem – not even when you’ve got real hardwood flooring. Before you bring in your Noble or Douglas fir, give it a good shake to get rid of as many loose pine needles as you can. (Some U-cut tree farms offer shaking and bundling as a bonus.) This step will help minimize the amount of nettles stuck between the thin crevices in your wood flooring.

Lay out a plastic mat under the tree skirt; this will prevent water damage due to potential spillage while watering your tree. Furthermore, the family pet might be inclined to spray at the base of the tree, which is not always an easy location to spot pet damage. The plastic mat will help avoid harm to your real hardwood flooring, as bacteria starts to grow just 24 hours after contact and it will most likely be a week or two before the tree is taken down completely.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Snow, although picturesque on Christmas morning, can present a hassle for homeowners with wood flooring. Not only is there potential water damage from melted snow (the result will be small, dark brown spots on your wood flooring), but if you’re not careful, you could end up with thousands of scratches from the tiny crystals of rock salt stuck on the bottoms of people’s shoes. Even if you do not sprinkle your drive with rock salt to prevent slips in the ice and snow, your guests may very well do so.

In the event of harsh weather, it is a smart choice to enforce a strict “no shoes” policy. Spread out an extra rug near the front door, and deem that area shoe storage for your household and visiting guests. As inconvenient as it may sound, your real hardwood flooring will be spared from damage.

A Christmas Party Hop

Depending on how much of your home has wood flooring, you might want to consider purchasing extra rugs or mats and laying them out according to which areas get the most foot traffic before the doorbell rings and your holiday party-goers arrive. These will help protect your hardwoods from scuffs and spills in high-traffic areas.

With people, food and drinks buzzing around, spillage will inevitably occur. Avoid using overly wet cloths to wipe up the messes; dry or slightly damp clothes are best for your wood flooring, which will warp and stain when exposed to too much moisture. It’s also a good idea to insist on personally cleaning any messes yourself to ensure it is done properly. After the guests have gone home, run a dry mop over your floors to pick up any debris.

The holiday season is no reason to get overly concerned about the condition of your hardwood flooring. Contractor after contractor will insist as long as the proper steps are taken, there is no reason to believe your floors should be damaged.  Extra rugs, a “no shoes rule” and proper cleanup procedures are perhaps the most convenient methods to ensure your floors remain in top shape over the holidays.